


Long After You've Gone

by Devcon03



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 10:12:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1506731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Devcon03/pseuds/Devcon03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Running is the only way of staying alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long After You've Gone

The street is empty save for the dirty, yellow car in the middle of it. It’s broken, must have been crashed into another car, but as with most places that at some point have been squatted, the rest of the street has been cleared. 

Nothing can hide in the open.

Spreading in front of her is a lane, seemingly safe. There's another car, a green one, that long ago smashed into a house. The windows are dark, crushed and stained. Here and there, the glass is still intact, and the darkness beyond is a terrifying thing, all eerie and hungry. 

The woman doesn’t stop as she moves forward. She can't care, or wonder, if the deep shadows are hiding the enemy. Worst case scenario, and what used to be a beautiful suburb migh just be housed by equally aggressive humans. She can't stop now, because any kind of interaction might bring wounds along, and those will get infected, no matter how careful the after-care. An infection would also slow her down, and most likely kill her.

She keeps running, since one can’t hide in plain view. For now the only thing she can do, is to keep moving, hurrying across dead lawns. Nothing moves as she runs over the remains of scattered humans. What's left of a whole family is all white bones, clad with rotting cloths, gleaming in the bleak afternoon sun. She tries not to look too closely, dares not. 

After a while she slows down, not quite breathless but wary. There’s a broken fence five metres away – danger ahead. She licks her dry lips, planning her next move. She shift into movement, and after a quick peak, she climbs over to the other side and crouches, waiting for the obligatory ten heartbeats to pass. 

Stillness, deep and soothing, only broken by the sound of a river is all she can hear. She nods to herself and drinks from her bottle, carefully cleaning it and putting it back, straddling it to her waist. 

*~*~*

Nothing moves as she jogs between buildings and empty houses. The trick is to run and never slow down. She learnt this lesson the hard way, losing loved ones and allies to the enemy. And yet, she loves it – the sensation of running as fast as she can, always on the move, almost flying across unknowns streets and abandoned cities. It makes her feel alive. 

As she puts distance between herself and those broken windows, she tries to remember the name of her current haunt. It once was a wealthy town, yet there’s nothing beyond dead cars and equally dead humans… And the enemy, always there. 

Always waiting. 

The world as her parents knew it, is dead. And, humanity along with it. The scattered remains of their race have formed loose bands and gangs, have been reduced to savages. They are almosts as dangerous as the enemy. They gang upon the weaker, use them as bait to draw the enemy out of areas they want to claim. Those are the lucky ones, because when food runs low, the unlucky ones are used as food. 

She has never stopped long enough for anyone to catch her, but today she’ll say her prayers and hope that what ever gods is out there, will listen.

It’s time to find food again.


End file.
